Erica

Pantry Cookin’

April 8, 2013 by Erica

Pantry Cookin'

Let’s talk pantries.

Let’s talk meal planning.

Let’s talk bulk bins.

I am a total sucker for the Whole Foods bulk bins. They are such a magical place. Three colors of quinoa, five types of lentils, chocolate covered everything, and amaaaazing trail mixes that I inevitably eat out of the bag on the way home – don’t mind if I do. On a given day, I can convince myself to buy almost any of it in the name of keeping a well-stocked pantry or trying something new.

Well, guess what? I don’t even have a pantry. (Does anyone in their 20s have an actual pantry? If so, don’t tell me about it; I’ll be super jealous.) What I have is two kitchen cabinets dedicated to pantry items. Aaaand they are bursting at the seams. Not to mention the freezer drawers I’ve packed with frozen fruits and veggies never to be heard from again.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Pantry Cookin'

The reason is that I like to follow recipes. Trying something new is all well and good, but I usually follow a recipe while I’m doing it, whether it’s someone else’s or one I’ve cobbled together ahead of time myself. And after I’ve made that delicious salad that calls for 2 tablespoons of goji berries, the other 2 cups that I bought often sit there for… a long time. Because who would buy just 2 tablespoons of something from a bulk bin? Not this girl. Come on – they’re called “bulk” for a reason.

I’m always envious of the bloggers that seem to throw together flavorful meals based on what they have lying around, but I’m a planner by nature. And I just haven’t been able to let go of the planning enough to use up what I have in my pantry.

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Roasted Vegetable Poutine

April 5, 2013 by Erica

Roasted Vegetable Poutine

Can I convince you to turn on your oven just a few more times before it gets too warm?

Roasted Vegetable Poutine

If you’ve ever had poutine, I don’t think I’ll have to try too hard to convince you. If all you have are the visuals, on the other hand, I probably have my work cut out for me. (Do you remember the Modern Family clip where Mitch and Cam serve poutine and Jay says “Well it looks like vomit, and I’m not poutine it in my mouth.”? So grumpy… so funny.)

Roasted Vegetable Poutine

Yes, poutine has a reputation for looking rather unappetizing. But didn’t your mama ever tell you not to judge a book by its cover? Potatoes, cheese curds, and gravy: Let’s think about those three ingredients, and how unbelievably hard it would be to go wrong with them. They make the ideal comfort food.

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Homemade Pistachio Butter

April 3, 2013 by Erica

Pistachio Butter

Is it just me, or are pistachios everywhere recently?

I’m not sure if it’s a seasonal thing, or if the big pistachio TV ad campaign actually worked. I’m guessing the latter, because I just googled ‘when are pistachios in season’ and Google told me fall. So, way to go, pistachio marketers, getting PSY to dance with life-sized pistachios on national television somehow actually worked out for you.

Yikes.

Moving right along.

Pistachio Butter

I’ve had pistachios on the brain recently because we had a huge bag of them at work that no one could stop eating. (They were the salt and pepper kind from Costco – so good.) Then I started noticing pistachios popping up in lots of recipes. And a few weeks ago, I was reading an article on The Kitchn – I honestly don’t even remember which one – that mentioned making your own pistachio butter. It was just a casual aside and didn’t go into detail, but it was one of those moments where everything stopped and I was like, whaaaaaat, homemade pistachio butter?! I had to know more.

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Moosewood Cookbook Borscht

April 1, 2013 by Erica

Moosewood Cookbook Borscht

Wait, come back.

This is delicious, I promise.

For some people, there is probably no phrase in the English/Yiddish language more unwelcome than “Moosewood Cookbook borscht.” You might be thinking, “Mushy cabbage without any meat to redeem it? No thanks!” But I think borscht gets a bad rap mostly because of its name; the word seems to conjure up images of a smelly old Russian lady standing over you until you finish your meal. It certainly sounds like something you’d have to be forced to eat.

Moosewood Cookbook Borscht

Luckily, I am not a smelly old Russian lady, and I’m probably several thousand miles away from you. (This is good for both of us, because I prefer to hide behind my computer screen.) I won’t force you to make this or eat it. I will just strongly recommend it, since it’s one of the best meals to come out of my kitchen in a while. Also, I’ll show you pretty pictures of it in the hopes that that will convince you.

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Strawberry Spinach SunButter Smoothie

March 29, 2013 by Erica

Strawberry Spinach Sunbutter Smoothie

There’s nothing like a mug of strong French press coffee and a big, delicious smoothie to start your day off right.

Oh, and some birthday roses from your sweetie… and a couple smooches, too.

But sweet boyfriends aside, smoothies are the breakfast treat I’ve found myself looking forward to most lately. There are just endless combinations, and the fact that they’re sweet and frosty just makes them so much fun. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with making mine with sunbutter. Although I’m not a huge fan of sunbutter plain – as a spread, I prefer peanut butter – I love it in smoothies, especially with spinach, for some reason. It’s what makes this smoothie extra special!

Strawberry Spinach Sunbutter Smoothie

Speaking of spinach: I don’t really make green smoothies, but I do like adding spinach to my fruit smoothies. Especially if there are berries involved, the spinach doesn’t change the flavor much, although it does turn your smoothie kind of garbage-colored. (I considered naming this post “strawberry sunbutter garbage-colored smoothie,” but something about that just didn’t seem so appetizing… not sure why.) Anyway, it’s the flavor that counts, and the fact that you are eating green stuff for breakfast!

These are also my favorite way to recover from hot summer long runs. Those are a few months away at this point, but I’m looking forward to them lots! I have been dying a long, slow death by treadmill this winter. It has just got to stop.

Strawberry Spinach Sunbutter Smoothie

If you look at the ingredient list below, you’ll see an ingredient that looks a little out of place: apple cider vinegar. Weird, right? Well, I took Faith’s advice recently and added just a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar to my smoothie. And it totally made it more flavorful! So, odd though it may seem, definitely don’t skip the vinegar.

I like my smoothies so thick that they have to be eaten with a spoon. If you prefer a more slurpable smoothie, you could sub the Greek yogurt with more almond milk or just add another half cup of almond milk or water.

Enjoy this garbage-colored, I mean, green smoothie!

Strawberry Spinach Sunbutter Smoothie

5.0 from 2 reviews

Strawberry Spinach SunButter Smoothie

Hands-on time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Author: Erica

Yields: 1 smoothie

Ingredients

1 frozen banana, sliced
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 large handful spinach leaves
2 Tbsp SunButter
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
1/2 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides and breaking apart chunks of fruit as necessary. Pour into a glass or bowl and enjoy!

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